UK Surgeon Erased After Tribunal Finds Wrong Bowel Connection and Failure to Recognize Postoperative Obstruction

The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) has removed Dr. Yasser Adly Abdel Rahman, a consultant general and colorectal surgeon, from the UK medical register after finding that serious errors during an emergency bowel operation in 2020 put a patient's life at risk.

The tribunal concluded that Dr. Abdel Rahman's fitness to practice was impaired because of misconduct. After a hearing that ended on July 22, 2026, it ordered his name to be erased from the medical register.

What Happened During the Emergency Surgery?

As reported in the Independent, on 25 August 2020, Dr. Yasser Adly Abdel Rahman performed emergency abdominal surgery on a patient identified only as Patient A.

According to the tribunal, the patient had a small bowel tumor along with a perforated, necrotic segment of the small intestine, indicating severely damaged bowel tissue.

During the approximately four-hour operation, Dr. Abdel Rahman divided the affected section of the small intestine, leaving two bowel ends.

In his statement to the tribunal, he said that he and a vascular surgeon decided to perform a gastrojejunostomy, a procedure that creates a connection between the stomach and the small intestine, to restore continuity of the digestive tract. He also stated that an intraoperative assessment was carried out to check that no obstruction was present that could interfere with the normal passage of digestive contents.

According to the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS), Dr. Yasser Adly Abdel Rahman qualified as a surgeon in Egypt in 1993. At the time of the incident in August 2020, he was working as a locum consultant in general and colorectal surgery at Royal Oldham Hospital in Greater Manchester.

Tribunal records stated that he had been employed at the NHS hospital for only a few days before carrying out the emergency operation.

Patient Developed Severe Postoperative Complications

After the operation, the patient's condition worsened. Tribunal findings stated that he developed progressively severe abdominal pain, experienced repeated vomiting, and did not pass any bowel motions. According to the tribunal, these postoperative symptoms indicated that the surgical procedure had not been successful, as reported in BBC.

The tribunal heard that Dr. Abdel Rahman did not adequately investigate the patient's worsening condition despite clinical signs suggesting a postoperative bowel obstruction.

As reported in the Independent, on 11 September 2020, Dr. Yasser Adly Abdel Rahman met with Patient A's parents to discuss the patient's progress. According to the tribunal, he informed them that the patient could be discharged once his pain was controlled and said that clinical signs suggested normal bowel function would return soon.

Four days later, on 15 September 2020, consultant general and colorectal surgeon Dr. Anthony Rate assumed responsibility for the patient's care after concerns were raised by both the patient's family and nursing staff. He performed a second emergency operation, during which he identified major technical errors from the initial surgery.

The tribunal found that the stomach had been connected to the wrong segment of the small intestine. As a result, intestinal contents could not move normally through the digestive tract and instead circulated back towards the stomach. The incorrect reconstruction had also created what surgeons refer to as a closed-loop bowel, a condition that can obstruct the normal passage of bowel contents and compromise the affected intestine.

During the corrective procedure, Dr. Rate preserved as much viable bowel as possible and created a stoma, surgically bringing the end of the intestine through the abdominal wall to allow waste to exit the body while the bowel recovered.

Expert Witness Described the Surgical Error as Extremely Serious

During the tribunal, the General Medical Council's (GMC) expert witness, consultant general and colorectal surgeon Dr. Anthony Blower, acknowledged that the operation was technically challenging because the patient had undergone previous abdominal surgery and had a large small bowel tumor, as reported in the Independent.

However, he stated that if Dr. Yasser Adly Abdel Rahman had recognized the complexity of the case, he should have sought assistance from another experienced surgeon.

Dr. Blower told the tribunal that the reconstruction performed during the operation represented an exceptionally serious surgical error. He further stated that the configuration created during the procedure did not correspond to any recognized surgical technique and, if left uncorrected, would have been incompatible with normal bowel function and could have resulted in the patient's death.

Tribunal Identified Additional Professional Misconduct

The tribunal also examined Dr. Abdel Rahman's conduct outside the operating theatre.

It found that he accepted employment in Ireland despite restrictions on his medical registration and failed to notify the General Medical Council (GMC) as required. The panel further concluded that he acted dishonestly when questioned about the employment.

According to the BBC, Dr. Abdel Rahman neither attended the hearing nor had legal representation during the proceedings. According to tribunal records, he maintained that he had been unfairly blamed for the incident, claiming he had been made a "scapegoat" following what he described as a "witch hunt" after the surgery.

Why the Tribunal Ordered Erasure

After reviewing the evidence, the tribunal determined that Dr. Abdel Rahman failed to recognize the limits of his competence, did not provide an acceptable standard of patient care, and showed insufficient insight into his actions.

The panel concluded that removing him from the medical register was necessary to protect patients and maintain confidence in the medical profession.

(Rh/SS/MSM)